I'm actually really proud of myself for how quickly I've been using these stamps. I guess that's what comes from waiting and waiting to get something, you end up wanting to use it right away. This page was a happy accident because with the Dylusions Spray on the opposite page bled through. It was my fault, I did the page a long time ago and I used way too much ink. But I knew that I could use that bleed-through now in an interesting way. So I stamped the beautiful girl on there and coloured her with my Distress markers, making sure to wet them so the effect was soft and didn't cover the spray marks. Then I used the Distress crayons to colour in the background, keeping to the colours already suggested by the bleed through. And look! I just love how it came out. The soft effect on her face, and the pops of colour everywhere. This page was a joy from start to finish. I hope you like it as much as I do! Have you had any happy accidents like this happen in your crafting?

21 March, 2016

Hi, guys! So, if you've gotten to know me a bit, one thing you might know is that I have issues with space. I don't like to take up a lot of it, but I also don't like to feel stifled, especially when I'm creating. Something that has been stifling me is my filming set up. It was okay for a while, but it covered up my Copic shelves and my second monitor and that bothered me. So I moved it over to the other side on January 18th, as you can see here:

But after using it for a few months I realised that this presented other challenges. Like, being completely 4 feet away from my Copic shelves and colouring mediums, making live colouring impossible. It also, for some reason, meant that the tripod got knocked and shoved a bit and so the shot was always different. And since it had to be so far above the desk, the shot was really wide and covered so much space I had a hard time focusing on smaller areas. And lastly the lighting was always inconsistent (which you may have noticed). So, after all this, I also began running out of space in my little corner with all the art journaling supplies I've been buying (see previous post about Ikea cart!) and I knew that I needed to a change.

My solution was to buy a new "leaf" for my desk and make it into an L. Mike has an L desk, nearly exactly this size, and I thought that's just what I needed. Some place where I can not worry about my monitor getting glue on it (that happened), or my keyboard getting paint on it while I work (also happened), and I can leave my tripod set up all the time so I can, if working on an art journal page, just click it on and off as I work. The other thing I knew that I truly needed was a proper shelf for my toys. My Funko figures get knocked over all the time, I had my TARDIS ornament break on me after it fell off my Copic shelf, and I can't see some of my figures because there's no room for them. I definitely needed a shelf. We made the trip to Ikea after my recent CF doctor's visit on the 3rd of March.

Finally, on the 20th, we were able to take out the shelf of random kitchen materials and unused canvases, push over my Kallax unit, and make space for the new part of my desk. It was about here I started to feel sick about adding all this space. $9 of MDF and some laminate and I started to completely lose it.

And here, we got the shelf up, I organised my toys, and we set the desk part up temporarily. I need another leg on my desk so we have to go to Ikea again. The Alex unit that is in the left hand corner will actually be moved under the new desk leaf and that corner will be supported by proper desk legs instead. But this is the set up until then.

I was still freaking out at this point, but getting my Copics and other colouring mediums into a workable place and seeing exactly how fun this new set up can be has helped a little in making me feel more comfortable with this expansion.

And here it is this very morning. I think it looks really pretty, don't get me wrong. And I don't want you to think that I'm complaining, or that I'm not appreciative of what I have. I am truly grateful I have the space in my kitchen to do this. My house is 700sqft total, so to be able to carve out this corner just for me is amazing. And this desk is now the same size as my husband's desk in our bedroom, so it's not like it's that exceptional or anything. I am very appreciative that I have a husband that indulges my need to make art, to have space to do it, and to make videos of it as well.

But yeah, I've mentioned before I have mental challenges and one of those issues is with space, ownership, and consumerism. I enjoy new things, I get inspired by them, but owning things bugs me. So while I get happy when I get a haul of stuff, I enjoy filming it and playing with it, I'm also guilty to the point of being sick about it. I'm aware that it's stupid, but like depression, it's hard to turn off. While a big part of me is all "look how pretty this new desk is! It's going to change how I create, film, and enjoy my art! I'm so happy with how bright and rainbow it is too! I can't believe my luck! I can't wait to make something and share it right now because I'm so happy!" the other part of me is "you're a piece of crap for wasting so much money on something as dumb as art. Why would you need all this. There are people out there starving and you have all this space dedicated to *crafting*. You're an idiot. And look at those toys. Are you four? How could you take up so much space with something that's just for you? Who the hell are you to need this much space, this many supplies, all this STUFF. You're such a waste of a person, a waste of money, and you should be ashamed of yourself for ever doing this." If that sounds stupid to you, you're lucky, cos waffling between those two emotions and monologues is really exhausting. And I cannot shut it off, I just have to live with it until I've heard it enough that I can start to ignore it. But it won't go away. Not ever.

And that's just kind of where I'm at. No one has ever really said these things to me (aside from trolls), but my inner self is a jerk, so I just have to live with it. Mike, on the other hand, went on Amazon and bought me a small, bendy tripod so I can actually mount my camera on the toy shelf above my new workspace. It'll be smaller, less intrusive, and hopefully just what I need. It should be here Wednesday, so I'll try to film something then. Also, when we get the new desk legs and everything is settled, I'll film another room tour for you because things have changed a lot and with a proper video camera I don't have to worry about focusing issues! So stay tuned for that. :) I hope you have a great day, and thanks for visiting!

20 March, 2016

I'm really excited about this Project Life spread because gaming gets me really excited, yes, but also because I was able to not only have Mike give me photos of things he was proud of, but I got him to write a few sentences about *why* those photos made him proud. You see that? Husband was actually involved in making this layout. Woo! I'm so proud of him and happy that his words are on here. I know that to some people video games are an annoyance, or just something for kids, but with Mike as a video game developer, and us both being gamers, our games are an important part of our lives and even our time together as a couple because we can play our games together too. Which is why this year I'll have a monthly spready just devoted to gaming! Here's the first one and I hope you like it. :)

16 March, 2016

Sometimes I like to randomly draw in my journal. It's a bit of a risk, since I'm still not very good at it and the paper does *not* allow for erasing. Nor does the Stabilo pencil that I use in my journal. So, I do take kind of a risk, but it's not so bad sometimes. Here's what I came up with the other day.

But as you can read, I forgot to gesso first and once I had to do it over him the Stabilo pencil did not appreciate that. I then had to find a way to cover the mess I made of his face, so I took my Neocolour 2s to it to paint over the mistakes.

I was really happy with how his eyes turned out. I did like it a lot before I added water, but there were patchy spots, so I figured I had to at least give it a cursory going-over with the brush. Once I did that, I had to think about the background and the quote.

I have a board on Pinterest for inspirational quotes and since I drew this man without a plan I had a hard time picking a quote for him. He's smirking, kind of cheeky, so what could possibly go well with him? I thought this quote wasn't bad, since he doesn't seem like he cares much what anyone thinks of him. And I try to fill my books with good quotes and advice. Because, really, there's not a whole lot you can do about the opinion of others except bare it.

15 March, 2016

Yes, I'm already on number thirty! Ugh, I feel ashamed and excited at the same time. I get frustrated whenever my art is impeded, and I know, I *know* that other people save and scrimp for their supplies so trust me I do appreciate that I'm very spoiled with my artistic freedom. Anyway, here's the new things I got, some from Scrapbook.com and others from a semi-local scrapbook store in Ontario. Mike tends to spoil me after doctor appointments, and the store is next to the movie theatre we went to to see Zootopia.

13 March, 2016

This year I'm doing a monthly layout, and then a gaming layout for Project Life. It's less work, less "falling behind", and less pressure in general. Plus it used up my Cocoa Daisy kit quite quickly which is nice. Not all those darned letters, but I'm so bad at using those. I do like how this layout turned out, so that's good. The funny thing? Doing two double page spreads is the same amount of work, which is kinda silly, if you think about it, and yet it still gives me more peace. Besides, the next layout is all about my and Mike's gaming adventures so I'm really excited to do those. I hope you like this video. Have a great Sunday.

11 March, 2016

Finally able to make a layout after more artsy motivation has gripped me tight. I was really excited to use these Pretty Little Studio supplies so I think that helped. It's always nice working with pictures of Sirius too. The little bastard is so photogenic he always makes me smile. I hope you like how this turned out. Here's the process video and the photo of the final layout. Have a great day!

07 March, 2016

You know, I don't have to say it, because you know. It's BEYOND cliche to store your art, Project Life, or general crafting supplies in the Raskog cart from Ikea. Any general google search, or *YouTube* search, will result in a plethora of links that show people giving peeks, looks, and even *tours* of their carts.

There's no denying that this cart is cute. None. It's freakin' cute. In teal, grey, flesh, or even custom painted, it's a cute little cart that has been often imitated by many manufacturers, but you can always tell when someone has a "real" one. Like one of those designer bags or something, it's almost a rite of passage when your craft space is finally blessed by this happy little cart filled with supplies just daring you NOT to make something today.

I didn't go to Ikea with the expressed purpose of getting THE cart. I went, actually, to perhaps get another Kallax. One of those 1x4 units I figured would fit, and I definitely wanted a new piece of desktop. We found it was only $9, you read that right, NINE dollars, so I got the desktop. But a 1x4 Kallax with a set of drawers and a little door would run us $95. Hmm, well, that's not good. I wanted a place for all the new art journal stuff, but also for my punches which are kind of frustrating at the moment. But not for that kind of money, and my space won't take another Alex unit. So... what about the cart?

This is what it looks like when I got it together (all by myself! lol) and crammed as much art supplies on it I could think of. Bit of a mess, but it's certainly cute and fun. Plus, all those mediums on the middle shelf are OFF my desk!

And here we are today. I'm not so sure about the layout, it's complicated, but so far it's holding things I was really tired of getting out, or shoving into places that didn't have any room left. I can get to my Dylusions paint, I can see my brushes, and my mediums, and my art journals aren't shoved into three different places cos they don't fit in one. That's nice.

Of course, me being me, I am very uncomfortable that I needed this cart in the first place. Why do I not have enough room? Why am I not using things fast enough to not need this kind of thing? And do I really need all this stuff? The desk expansion, yes I do. I need it. So I can set up my video camera's tripod without blocking a computer monitor. Since I have two monitors and this is also my gaming desk, it's nice to be able to game without an obstructed view. As it is set up right now I'm having the issue where the shot moves from filming to filming which is frustrating when striving for consistency. But a whole cart that needs new supplies?! I'm going to have a hard time coming to terms with this. I might need to make like 100 canvases to use up Prima flowers so I have a drawer back, that kind of thing, but for now... I'm the cliche, and it's CUTE!

02 March, 2016

More art journal fun since I've been working a lot in it. I have a need to play, but not a lot to say, and that's why the journal works well for me since I only include quotes. No thinking, just colour. I've been needing colour a lot.

I have two main Dylusions journals that I work in. It's helpful because I do not use a heat gun and stuff needs to dry between coats. Gels, mediums, paint, etc. So two journals means you can work while one is drying, and then come back. Keep switching off.

For these pages I took journal pages that I had, at some point, sprayed with Dylusions sprays and used my home made stencils to outline both the women, and then the man on the other page. For the man's page I knew I wanted to restrict myself from using black. For the women, I didn't really know what I wanted.

By this time I was pretty frustrated, and just trying things randomly. "Done" is sometimes better than "good", but I do prefer if I can get both in there. The women were just being frustrating. Adding colours that should have created "pop" just seemed to complicate matters and it was bugging me. The man's page, however, was coming along swimmingly.

I always say that if you make something look sketchy it goes from "bad" to "artsy" so that is what I did here. I outlined everything in my black FudeBall pen and pretended everything was how I wanted it.

I'm 33 years old. I've been married to Mike Reitmeyer for 14 years. I'm a stay-at-home-wife and I have Cystic Fibrosis. We have two fur-kids: Gambit LeBeau (14 yo tabby)and Sirius Lupin my 5yo Pomeranian Service Dog.

All images and creations presented on this blog are property of me, Aeryn Kelly. Any use of them without expressed written permission is prohibited. Please do not submit my work or represent it as your own in any way. All opinions on this site are my own. Any and all links to any outside source are provided without monetary gain; they are for proper citation for the stamp artist and the benefit of the readers of this website. I only promote products and companies that I personally use and believe in. I make no money off of this website.